


-Debt-

by AmbroseRivers



Series: Undertale Collection [1]
Category: Undertale
Genre: Angst, Conditions, F/M, Soulless Pacifist - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 19:49:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6534121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmbroseRivers/pseuds/AmbroseRivers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was never a choice and there was always a catch but all he needed was for her to remember.</p>
            </blockquote>





	-Debt-

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from my Tumblr: loveinthebones.tumblr.com/
> 
> This piece is inspired by the “Lover’s Last Words” audio by oolay-tiger on Tumblr and here is the link: http://oolay-tiger.tumblr.com/post/133999635645/since-my-microphone-still-sounds-like-im-talking 
> 
> GO LISTEN TO IT AND THEN COME READ THIS.
> 
> When I heard it… I HAD to write something. It was supposed to be a quick something but…turned into something more. I may or may not do a full-fledged multi-chapter fic based on this but I hope everyone enjoys. There is character death here so be warned. Right now, it stands alone.

There is never a choice… only the illusion of one and really, Sans thought to himself: _I should know better._ He stood with his hands shoved in his pockets and his soul fluttered against his rib cage furiously. His bones were sore from his grip on the empty ketchup bottle he had shoved in his pocket and his grin was strained.

Frisk ( _Not Frisk_ , he ground his teeth) sat opposite him, brown eyes tinged with a crimson overlay and they smiled at him. It was a mockery of his Frisk’s smile- all gnashing teeth, a veiled threat and he was tempted to have a bone slice through their chest right then and there but…

He had bigger problems.

“Run that by me again, kiddo.”

Chara’s smile grew wider. Sans watched Grillby’s flames quiver from the corner of his vision and he prayed that his friend would just stay behind the counter. His fists flexed and he forced his shoulders down in a relaxed posture. _Easy._

“You heard me.” Chara giggled, stirring the straw in the leftover vanilla milkshake. Their face contorted into a grimace of disgust when they took a sip. “Ugh.” They rolled their tongue against their teeth before going back to slowly stirring the straw. “Frisk and I have an agreement. You’re going to die.”

Sans eyes sockets went dark and he felt his magic stir inside of him, vibrating with the want ( ** _need_** ) to be released. “Why would Frisk agree? As far as I know, they don’t have a bone to pick with me.”

Chara snorted. “Of course not. They love you.”

“Then…?”

“It’s simple. When they went too far and regretted it…I offered them a second chance.” Chara kept their posture slouched but their fingers were fidgeting, picking at the striped shirt. Sans inhaled sharply at the implications.

_He woke in a tangle of sheets and growled as his eye flared, hand pressing against it as hard as he could stand. He was panting and the room was hot. It was all too much. He had to get away. He had to…_

_Sans stood on shaky legs and stumbled to his door. He had to…_

_“There, not here…” The skeleton murmured aloud. It had been a long while since he had to use the mantra but it was something. A flimsy comfort. He walked out of his room…_

_And into his lab. He spared a glanced at the broken machine before rummaging in the drawers for a beat up notebook._

_“Everything is ending… Is this it?” He read aloud and he collapsed onto the floor._

“You get it now, comedian?” Chara’s cheery voice cut through his thoughts and Sans merely lifted a hand at Grillby and called over his shoulder,

“Put it on my tab, Grillbz. We’re almost finished.”

“…Heh. You’re smart, comedian. This wretched world…”

Sans let his magic skip across his bones and he watched Chara lean back in alarm, though they played it off as moving a lock of hair away from their cheek. _We’re both actors, huh?_ Sans thought as he stood and grabbed Chara’s hand, squeezing it with a sick satisfaction.

Chara hissed but didn’t struggle. **_Then they laughed._**

Sans ground his teeth and exited the restaurant, eyelights darting around the street bustling with humans and monsters. Chara kept their twisted grin and let Sans drag them to the darkened alleyway, feeling a dark shiver run up their spine as they felt space and time twist around them, stomach free falling.

Sans was silent as he released them, brushing the lone echo flower he was standing by. It shivered under his touch and spoke to him in his own dead haunted voice, “I wasn’t ready for the responsibility.” Chara regarded him with eyes glittering with unreadable emotion.

“Frisk was going to kill everyone so **_I_** ended the world.” Their voice was low and pained but they cackled and held their sides. Sans eye flared and he thrusted a hand out. A single bone slammed into the ground where Chara was standing and he shook, luminescent tears sliding down smooth cheekbones.

“They sold their soul to me to _make it right._ ” Chara continued, making sarcastic air quotes with their fingers. How did he never notice that Frisk’s nails were scraggly and uneven? They never chewed their nails. How had he missed that when he was living with Tori?

Tori…

“Listen!” Chara growled, stamping their foot and Sans took a step back, a small dry hollow laugh escaped his throat. He should just kill them. The timeline would reset.

His soul panged with that thought and he felt the ghost of Toriel’s soft fur tickling his nose, her tight comforting embrace, and her soft sweet kisses… Maybe… He could wait a bit longer.

“Go on then, kid. I’m all ears.”

Chara blinked and shrieked in uncontrollable laughter before covering their eyes. “Seriously?” Sans didn’t miss the way their other hand went behind their back. He tensed but they made no move except to go back to staring at him.

“I agreed to let Frisk have their try at a ‘good’ ending on three conditions…” Chara took a step forward and bones materialized around Sans in an instant, primed and aimed to kill. The crimson-brown eyes regarded them with a look of disinterest as they pulled the knife from behind their back, pressing it into their thumb. “The first was that they had to under no circumstance…kill certain…people.”

That took him by surprise.

“The second was if they managed to get an ending that was better than the others, there would be no resets. Ever.”

Sans could feel his soul thrumming. This…This was too good to be true. There was a catch. There was always a catch. He felt hope trying to blossom in his chest and he thought of kneeling in the snow, clutching a dusty red scarf in his hands and it extinguished like a wind blowing out a candle.

“The last was… Out of the others… they had to choose who would die. After all…” Chara clutched the knife and lowered their gaze. He couldn’t see their eyes as they paused, shaking. “They didn’t save Asriel. It’s only fair really.”

**_Oh, fuck._ **

Sans pressed a hand to his chest as he let the bones fly. Chara dodged them- twisting, twirling and leaping over or on bones.

**_Shit, shit, shit. Focus._ **

“You know why I chose you?” Chara’s voice was high with their exhilaration and breathless as a sudden blast of raw magic fired over them. They dropped to the ground with a sharp cry, slamming their arm on the ground to put out the embers clutching to their shirt.

“Because in only one ending could I kill you. Could they kill you. You _wanted_ the resets to stop. You **_want her_** and your **_fucking brother_** _to live happily!”_

Sans flinched at the words and he knew he needed to focus. Chara was right. He did want that…he did… but now… He could see Tori beneath him, eyes half-lidded with pleasure and panting. He could see Frisk scrambling into his lap, pointing at their science homework with a frustrated jerk. And Papyrus… his brother needed someone to keep him out of trouble. He could see his brother in his slacks, holding a tray overhead. He wanted…

He wanted…

He wanted…

He wanted to stay. He was happy.

There was a burst of fire across his chest and he gasped, pulling his magic in and using it to turn his dust into hot, dripping crimson. If he was going to die, he would make it as traumatizing as possible. He wanted them to _remember_ what they did to him. There was a thud as Chara dropped the knife, eyes wide in disbelief.

He let his smile soften as they reached a shaking hand out to him.

**SANS LV 1 HP 1 / 2**

**1…0.9…0.85…**

“That’s impossible…” They whispered before clutching their hair. “You don’t deserve a happy ending! You don’t so why…why…” He said nothing as they motioned to his soul. Guess he had hope after all. Huh. Sans watched as their eyes softened and tears welled up. _Frisk._ They stayed still though and didn’t move to come closer. Sans coughed weakly but didn’t try to summon any attacks.

He wanted…

He rummaged weakly in his shorts pockets and pulled out his battered cell phone.

_Ring, ring…_

**_Come on. Please._ **

“Hello. Toriel speaking.” Her voice was like a breath of fresh air and he closed his eye sockets for a moment, letting the wave of peace rush over him.

“Uh…hey, Tori.” He began, sinking to his knees as he clutched at his chest. He watched Frisk recoil at the name but that wasn’t important. He needed…

What did he need? He needed to know that she would remember him.

“Sans!”

“…Yeah?” He answered, blinking slowly. He needed to focus. He needed to tell her something meaningful and not tell a half-truth or a full-faced lie. He needed to be honest for once in his fucking life. She deserved that.

“Are you okay?”

**_No. Not really but that’s not important…_** “Oh-Uh-I’m okay, Tori.” He had to be convincing. He let out a huff of breath as he curled in on himself, hands and knees fighting to keep him up. He kept his voice as steady as he could manage. “But… Why?”

“Oh- no… it just sounds like you’re in pain and…” She was definitely worrying. He could hear the sound of a faucet being turned off and the soft clank of a dish. Tori must be doing dishes… He smiled, forcing himself to take steady breaths through his nose. “I was worried.”

**_Called it. Heh. I need to tell her… that I…I…love her._ **

“You’re always so…kind…Tori. I…love…that about…you. You know that…right?” Sans could feel the tears sliding down his cheeks and he pressed the phone closer to his ear. He was trying to pour as much love into the words as he could. If he had only this chance to let her know that she was the light in his life, he would do it.

“Sans! You’re scaring me! What’s going on?!” Toriel’s voice rose and he could just picture her, hand pressed to her snout.

“Don’t…worry about it, Tori.” He panted, pulling the phone away as he grunted in pain. He didn’t have much time and forcing himself to keep upright- it was not helping… He finally let himself fall onto his side before returning the phone to his ear. The tears were flowing down his face in earnest now. “I’m…going to miss you.”

**_So fucking much. I’ll miss you. Even if it does reset, we won’t have this._ **

He couldn’t keep his voice steady anymore with his crying. He just wanted her to know. “I’m going to miss you so much, Tori.”

“Sans.” Tori was crying too. “Don’t talk like that, okay? Please… tell me what going on.”

Sans raised his eyelights to see Frisk, hands covering their eyes and silently sobbing. He couldn’t tell her. The skeleton let his eye sockets close for a moment before forcing them open and twitching his fingers. He wanted to get Frisk’s attention but… Toriel was more important.

“It’s…nothing…Tori,” He curled up at the jolt of his magic pewtering out, pulling his hand away. Instead of blood, there was dust. It wouldn’t be much longer.

“But…”

“Just promise me something, okay?”

“Where are you?! Where are you?!! I’m coming _RIGHT NOW_!” Toriel’s sobbing was breaking his heart and he smiled weakly. She would come if he told her but he didn’t want to do that. Sans stared at the crystals embedded in the ceiling. He didn’t want her finding his clothes in a dusty pile and crying alone.

**_She deserves better than that. She shouldn’t…I will give her as happy of an ending as I can._ **

**_Even if it’s without me._ **

“N-no. I-It’s too late for me…”

“Wh…What…?” The question was so small and filled with horror. “What do you mean?”

“Just promise me, Tori.” He couldn’t get the scribbled crayon drawing he did so long ago out of his mind.

“What is it?”

“Promise me you’ll remember me, okay? **_Promise me, Tori._** “ Sans was terrified. He hadn’t been this scared in a long time… not since the first reset that Chara had killed Papyrus, not since having time skip back and having to face down a knife again and again… It had been eternity but to think that she- of everyone- would forget him.

It terrified him. What would await him in death? If it really was the final time…

Would anyone remember him? **_He needed her to. He need her to remember._**

“Sans?” She was scared and confused but he couldn’t breathe. He needed to hear her say it. It was the thing that would finally let him die in peace.

“Please remember me Tori.” He begged as his vision began to darken. He could feel his bones crumbling. He didn’t notice that Frisk had crawled over to sit by his side, fingers resting on his other hand.

“Sans I promise.” Toriel spoke and he could feel the truth of her words. It warmed his soul. “But I…” She would remember him and that was enough.

The phone clattered to the floor.

Frisk stared at the dust that spread over their fingers.

“ ** _SANS!”_** They could hear Toriel screaming and they reached over and pulled the crumpled jacket into their lap. “ ** _SANS…”_** Their mother sounded so heartbroken and she was sobbing, desperate.

They had done that. Frisk hugged Sans jacket, burying their face into the fabric. It smelled like ketchup, grease, and snow. It smelled like…

Like…

“ ** _SANS!!!”_**

It smelled like home. Like Sans was their Dad.

“ ** _NO!”_** Toriel’s anguished cry echoed Frisk’s screaming soul but the gentle pressure of Chara’s spirit laying hands on their shoulder forced them to acknowledge the other child. There was a heavy weight on their chest… It wasn’t a happy feeling thrumming through their bond but definitely not wracked with pain like Frisk.

_Your debt is paid._

Frisk watched as their fingers moved on their own and Chara listened to Toriel call out for Sans, repeating her mantra of denial. Chara snapped the phone shut.

_We have to wash off._

Frisk clutched the jacket tighter.


End file.
